At the Sunset of Existence
by Candyland
Summary: Based on the end of the manga. A woman who was the constant companion of a devil died alone in a house of God. And yet there was something strange...


**Title: **At the Sunset of Existence  
**Author: **Candyland  
**Fandom:** _Chrno Crusade:_ A girl named Rosette and her partner, a demon named Chrno, work with a holy order to search for her brother and try to stop the impending demon army of DOOM. I do not own it!  
**Wordcount: **1006  
**Taunt:** My fandom is horny.

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Rosette knew that she was dying.

It wasn't like it was a surprise or anything. If anything, it should have happened some time ago. Her end had started many years back, when she had agreed to a contract with a demon to try and save her brother's life. Her life would feed his, and she would ultimately die from it. Still, she wore the pocket watch with pride and marched onward. Her choice was her own, and she would stand by it.

She really should have died when she was sixteen, but she had made it eight years past that, though those eight years had not been without struggle. The attacks came more and more frequently as time passed. She was to die. Everyone knew it. It was just a matter of when that fatal moment would come.

And now that it was finally, painfully here…she was alone and afraid, and she wanted to see him, even if it was just one more time, for the last time. He had promised…

_Chrno…_

The doors opened, and the familiar shadow fell across the aisle of the chapel. She was already weeping, crying desperately for him. And seeing him through her tears…for the first time in so long, her feet felt like they had wings. All this time, spent waiting and wondering…

Waiting for him to fulfill his promise…

Wondering where he was…

Waiting for him to come back to her…

Wondering what had happened to him…

Waiting for them to be together again…

Wondering if he had forgotten…

Waiting for the next attack…

Wondering if it would be the one that killed her…

And finally, at the last possible moment, it had all come to fruition.

Chrno only had one arm, but it was open and waiting. He looked worn, and bandages criss-crossed his face. And he wore that smile, the little one he saved only for her. She hadn't realized it at the time of their journey and their adventures, but in hindsight, she realized that he never seemed to give that smile to anyone else.

At the sunset of her very existence, he had kept his promise, and she took flight. For a very brief moment, she felt like she had a long time ago, back when they had first met. She had been so young then, healthy and innocent and unmarked by any of the nightmares she had seen since.

She had always prided herself on being strong and tough. But now Rosette didn't care if anyone saw her cry. Especially him—he always knew anyway. And she sobbed openly as she sprinted towards him. Let him tease her. Let him give her a hard time. She would just bop him for making her wait so long.

When she fell against him and grabbed onto him, he was warm and solid and _there_…

She heard his voice and saw his smile and felt him holding her with his one arm and it was like coming home after a long journey. And then there was a soft voice in her ear that sounded a lot like Chrno, asking if she was ready to go now because there was somewhere else that they were supposed to be—not her. They. Both of them.

He asked again: Are you ready to go?

And she said yes.

**_-o-_**

They found Rosette Christopher on the floor of the chapel. She had fallen in the aisle, a couple of meters away from the door. Another attack, Beth said. They had all known that if she had another one it would be fatal, and that prophecy had proven tragically true.

The heroic woman who had spent so much time as the constant companion to a devil had died alone in a house of God. It was ironic, and sad, and yet not altogether unexpected.

And yet…

There were a few things about the scene that seemed strange.

First of all, the doors to the church were open, yet Rosette herself lay on the floor well out of reach of them. If someone else had opened them, why had they not immediately gone for help? The girl who had found the body had noticed the doors were open and thought it strange; she said she had seen the form on the floor before she even got up to the door.

Additionally, she lay on her back, her feet pointed towards the altar. Even if she had pulled the doors open and stumbled, she should have been on her back, her head to the altar. And if she had managed to get the doors open, wouldn't she have tried to get outside to seek help?

It was not impossible for her to have ended up as she was in terms of position…

But she was laid out neatly. Her back was straight, her hands folded on her stomach, like a queen laid out for burial. There was no sign of sprawled limbs or frantic flailing that should have accompanied her final attack. It was like she had simply laid down in the church aisle…and died.

And perhaps the strangest part of it all was her face. There was no pain from the attack that had claimed her life, no fear of dying. She was serene and completely peaceful. Those who knew her best were startled by this, knowing that she had held onto life for this long because there was someone that she wanted to see again. Someone she missed terribly.

It was Azmaria who said it first: _Perhaps she did see him again._

Whatever the case regarding the circumstances of the moments just prior to it, her death itself was more or less natural in accordance with her condition. She was mourned deeply, and buried in secret in accordance with her wishes. The location of her grave was disclosed to a very select few, those who knew her best and had been closest to her. They were the only witnesses to her resting place.

And yet the flowers appeared, year after year.

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**PS.** _This is in accordance with my own little romantic notion of the manga ending, because it's so bloody OPEN-ENDED. We know she died, and we know it was peaceful, and going by the dates on the tombstone, we know that she was twenty-four. So…I played :D And it was fun! I hope you enjoyed. Thanks for reading, all! Much love!_


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